


ménage à trois

by AcidicMusings



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Aaron: confused gay caught in the middle, Alex: your local bisexual who is head over heels for Burr, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, John: has confused feelings over Burr, M/M, eventual poly relationship, rating will go up (maybe)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-07-15 07:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7214053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcidicMusings/pseuds/AcidicMusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>John Laurens would never admit it but he was jealous. Yes, that's right jealous. Lately Alex had been hanging out with Aaron Burr of all people. His crush on Alex being the root of the problem. Seeing him hang on Burr's every word and follow him around like a lost puppy made his stomach churn with envy. Honestly what's so good about Burr, he thought to himself.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>John Laurens has a hopeless crush on Alexander Hamilton. When Alex starts hanging around Burr, John decides to see whats so good about Burr. What he didn't expect was to find himself starting to fall for Burr also.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

John Laurens would never admit it but he was jealous. Yes, that's right jealous. Lately Alex had been hanging out with _Aaron Burr_ of all people. His crush on Alex being the root of the problem. Seeing him hang on Burr's every word and follow him around like a lost puppy made his stomach churn with envy. _Honestly what's so good about Burr_ , he thought to himself.

So when their professor of their woman's studies course assigned a partner project he decided to find out for himself. He beat Alex to Burr and promptly asked him to be his partner. Alex made a face at John but he ignored it.

"Uh yeah sure," Burr said with a surprised look on his face.

"Good, why don't we meet at my dorm?" John suggested. "My roommate is hardly ever there."

"Sounds good, I'll give you my number and we can discuss a time?" Burr asked grabbing a pen and paper to write it down.

John flashed him a smile. "Perfect."

\---

The rest of the day Alex scowled at John. "Y’know if you keep your face like that it'll get stuck like that," he said to the other.

"I can't believe you made me partner up with Jefferson!" Alex huffed crossing his arms.

"I didn't make you partner up with Jefferson, you could have easily found someone else." John pointed out. Alex rolled his eyes and threw a little piece of paper at him.

"Why'd you pair up with Aaron anyways?"

 _Ah the long awaited question_ , thought John. "I paired up with _Burr_ because I felt like it." He said much to Alex's distaste.

"Right." He said snappily, not wholeheartedly believing his friend.

"Awe cheer up, Jefferson can't be that bad. I'm sure you two can come to an understanding." He sniggered making Alex groan loudly. The Nevisian went on his rant about how Jefferson and he could never find common ground.

While Alex rambled on John took the opportunity to text Burr. 'Hey it's John! Is 5 good for you to come over?' His finger hovered over the send button. He quickly threw in 'I can order a pizza or something to snack on' to be polite. He hit send and waited back for a response. After a couple minutes he finally received his response. 'Sounds good, I'll chip in.'

"John? Are you listening?" Alex asked leaning over the table to try and catch a glimpse at his screen. 

John pulled his phone away. "Yes? Alex I've gotta go, I have someone coming over."

\---

John cleaned up his dorm to the best of his abilities (which meant to push everything under his bed). He heard a knock on the door. "Coming!" He called running to open up for Burr. The shorter man was dressed in a slightly oversized sweater and casual jeans. "Hey," he said stepping aside so that he could come in. He mumbled back a greeting and came in. "I'll order the pizza and we can get started, yeah?"

Burr nodded "Sounds good, I'll pay half." He said holding out a couple crumbled bills.

"Thanks make yourself comfortable." He said taking the dollars and flattening them out. Burr awkwardly looked around.

"Is it fine if I sit on the bed?" He asked rubbing his arm.

"Yes its fine, Burr." He said pulling out his phone to call in the pizza. The other man nodded and went to sit on the bed. "Any particular pizza you like?"

"Pineapple."

"Pineapple?"

"Is that problem?" Burr asked raising a brow.

"Just-Pineapple? That's so unexpected." John laughed. With how bland Burr could be sometimes he figured he'd like cheese.

Burr frowned. "What's wrong with pineapple?" He said making himself comfortable on the bed.

"Nothing at all," he chuckled. "Don't get your panties in a twist, I'll order you your _pineapple_ pizza." Burr snorted and mumbled something under his breath making John laugh harder. 

When John calmed himself he called in the pizza and joined Burr on the bed. "Okay, so I printed off the rubric and topic," Burr started and pulled out some papers from his bag. "Our project is to collaboratively write an essay on the main theories used in Women's Studies today and analyze it from a historical perspective and with respect to the combined effects of gender, race and class on the status of women in contemporary society." He explained. John nodded along soaking in the information.

"Not too bad, with our combined brains I'm sure we can put together a damn good essay." John said grinning at Burr. To Johns surprise Burr smiled back. It wasn't big or broad, but it was warm. 

"Let's get to work then," he said cracking his fingers (much to Burr’s displeasure) and pulled out his laptop. John pushed away the weird flutter in his stomach from the other’s smile and started researching. "Well a given theory we should discuss is the Feminist Theory." Burr nodded and agreed before offering his one idea.

"How do you feel about including the social Construction theory? They go hand in hand. We could discuss one and have it lead into the other." Burr said turning attention to John.

He bit his tongue thinking. "Yeah that sounds good," he said nodding. "Really good. Good idea." Burr _seemed_ content at the praise. _Whys he so hard to read at times_ , John thought to himself. It didn't take long for the two to get wrapped up into a conversation on who was doing what on the paper.

John was surprised on how easy it was to work with Burr. Sure sometimes he argued or lacked an opinion but once he got into a topic he was fond of he was nonstop. It was refreshing to hear Burr take a stand on something. The more he listened he could understand why Alex liked the man.

He was so engrossed in Burrs lecture on society's construction on gender that he almost didn't hear the doorbell ring. "Pizzas here," he mused getting up to go pay the pizza man. John settled himself next to Burr and placed the pizza between the two of them.

"No plates?" Burr asked looking at it.

"Nope, use your hands." John laughed seeing Burr crinkle his nose and pick a piece up. The other got a piece for himself and leaned back against the bed frame. "So what's going on between you and Alex?" He asked with a smirk. Burr choked on his food and wiped his mouth.

"Excuse me?"

"You know you and Alex. You two a thing?" He asked, not really sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"No? Why?" He asked looking frazzled.

"No reason you two looked close was all." He pointed out.

"I don't believe he likes me like that," Burr said looking at his lap in thought. John felt the weight off his chest lift. _So they aren't dating_ , he mentally cheered. "Has he said something?" Burr inquired after a moment.

"Beats me, I haven't heard of any new crushes. He could have said something to Laf or Herc." He said honestly. Burr opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by John. "Moving on, do you want to start coming over after classes to work on this?"

Burr looked genuinely surprised at Johns offer. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." He said with a small smile that made his stomach flutter again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of Hamburr in this chapter I promise there will be more in the next! Thank you so much for reading! This chapter was a little bland but it was just to set up the story. I promise the next chapter will be much better! As always kudos and comments are welcomed.
> 
> Sorry if all the woman's studies info seems wrong, I did the best I could with my (lazy)research.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adventures to Starbucks and Burr's roommate

"Move your feet."

John stretched out on his small bed; he looked up at Burr and smiled. "Make me."

"I'll sit on your legs," Burr said crossing his arms. The two had mostly finished each of their own pieces and were working on merging them as one. The due date was for their collaboration was in 3 days.

"Do it," John taunted watching Burr make a face. Surprisingly, the man took to the challenge and did exactly that: He sat on John's legs. Burr smiled to himself and pulled his laptop back onto his lap to continue working.

John pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at him. "You really did it."

"I did." Burr said not removing his gaze from his screen.

"Can you release my legs," John asked biting back a laugh. "I'll buy you something to eat if you do." 

"Like right now?" He asked raising a brow. "It's 9."

"Good thing Starbucks is open until 10,” John said knowing he wouldn't refuse Starbucks. It had only taken John a couple days of hanging out with Burr to pick up on the other man’s love for the coffee chain. He wiggled his legs in an attempt to get Burr off. 

He shifted off of him, "it's a little late though." Burr said biting his lip.

"Don't worry princess, I'll walk you back to your dorm if your that worried," he joked. "C'mon pack up your stuff." Burr sat for a moment before sighing and grabbing his things. John grinned triumphantly and grabbed his keys.

He led Burr out the door the cold November air hit them, the smaller man shivered. He rubbed his arms as he followed John down the stairs. John looked over at him and felt bad. "Are you cold?" He asked.

"Just a little," Burr admitted. He hadn't expected to stay so late so he had only brought a thin throw over.

"Here take my sweatshirt," John said pulling it off for Burr.

"I can't possibly! Aren't you cold?" He flushed as John pushed it into his arms.

"I'm fine and anyways if you get sick I’ll never hear the end of it." He said, _I can already hear Alex asking me why I let his boy toy get sick._

He pulled on the sweatshirt, "thank you." He said rolling up the sleeves.

"Better?" John asked looking down at Burr. _Shit he looks...cute?_ He blushed and averted his eyes away from him.

"Much." Burr replied enjoying the warmth. 

They soon reached Starbucks 20 minutes before closing. "What do you want?" He asked the other.

"Just a ham and Swiss Panini," he replied after a moment of staring at the menu. John ordered him his food and paid the cashier.

Burr happily took his sandwich and started eating it once they were out the door. "You want a bite? You didn't get anything." He offered.

"Nah, I'm good." John said shaking his head. They walked in comfortable silence back to Burr's dorm. "What floor are you on?" He asked as they approached his building.

"Third, walk me up?" He asked looking at John. He nodded and followed the smaller man up. They heard a loud clatter from behind the dorm door followed by some shouts.

"Everything okay?" John asked glancing at Burr.

"I don't know let's find out," he said opening the door to see Jefferson and Alex squabbling. "Thomas?" 

"Aaron? What are you doing here?" Alex said perking up at the sound of his voice.

"I live here, Thomas is my roommate," He said putting his bag down. "John was just walking me back." Burr pointed back at John.

Alex looked between the two and then back at Thomas. "You didn't tell me Aaron was your roommate."

"I thought you knew," Thomas drawled crossing his arms.”It’s not like I haven’t mentioned before.” He said sarcastically. Alex opened his mouth to fire back but John interrupted him.

"Hey, Burr, I'll see you tomorrow I'm going to head back." John said patting the other on the shoulder. “Alex, walk back with me?”

"Yeah I’ll walk back with you, it was nice seeing you Aaron," Alex said smiling at the other, his eyes shining.

Burr smiled back. "Bye Alex," he said warmly and turned to John. "Thank you Laurens, I'll see you later." 

Once they were out Alex turned to John. "Who would've thought! Jefferson and Aaron are roommates!" He was bouncing on his toes.

"You seem awfully happy about this," John mused looking at Alex.

"I can use seeing Jefferson as an excuse to see Aaron." He said pleased with his plan. John felt a twinge of jealousy but smiled through it. "How's your collaboration going? I hope good since you stole my partner." 

John raised a brow at that, "it's going good, I must say Burr isn't _as_ bad as I thought he'd be."

"As bad? How bad did you think he was?" Alex asked.

"I don't know, he's usually boring. Never really taking a stand but working with him. It-It was different. He's really passionate when he takes a side. It's captivating, for lack of better words." He rambled feeling his cheeks grow warm at the admission. Alex smiled fondly and nodded in agreement. 

"Well now that you two are becoming friends we can all start hanging out together." Alex said cheerfully. "I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight!" 

"Goodnight," John said watching him head back to his dorm. He thought back to the way Burr and Alex looked at each other. The way that they spoke to each other. He felt a twinge of jealousy in his chest. _I wish he would look at me like that_ , he thought. He bit the side of his lip realizing that he wasn't sure if he meant Burr and Alex.

\---

Thomas snickered watching Aaron put his stuff down. "So you've ditched Hamilton and are chasing Laurens? Not bad, Aaron."

"Pardon?" He asked looking back at Thomas confused.

"Well I assumed since you're wearing his sweater," Thomas pointed out. He looked down and blushed.

"I forgot to bring a thicker sweater so he let me _borrow_ it," Aaron huffed laying down in his bed. “Anyways I doubt Laurens of all people would feel that way towards me.”

“I’m just saying the way he was looking at you says otherwise. I’d be careful.”

“Careful? I’ll keep that in mind,” Aaron replied unsure.

"Now if it's possible I'd like some sleep," Thomas mumbled his goodnight and crawled under the covers of his own bed. 

Once he was sure the other was sleeping he pulled out his phone from the hoodie pocket. Aaron thought about what Thomas had said and texted Laurens, 'hey I forget to give you back your sweater, do you want it back tomorrow?' Shortly he received a response:

'Keep it, looks better on you'

Aaron blushed and put his phone on the stand beside his bed. _This is going to be a long couple days_ , he thought before going to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I know I promised Hamburr this chapter but the original chapter I wrote up didn't flow as nice so I wrote this semi-filler chapter just for things to make more sense. Plus I wanted to write some more Aaron/John bonding. I absolutely promise that they'll be Hamburr in the next chapter (Its already written!).


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Hamburr date and more of John's confused feelings

It soon became part of an everyday routine for Burr to come over. Something for John to look forward to every night, but all good things must come to an end. The collaboration had been completed and turned in; Burr had no reason to come over anymore. It had dawned on him how much he was going to miss the other man coming over.

When John realized he was staring at Burr from across the classroom, he slapped himself. What's wrong with me? He thought averting his gaze. His plan was to make Alex jealous was backfiring on him. John groaned and let his head drop down onto the desk.

Alex nudged him, "Everything okay?" He asked.

"Yep just dandy," John said dryly and rubbed his eyes before looking back towards the front of the classroom.

"If you say so," Alex said unconvinced. He shrugged and went back to jotting down notes. John looked back over at Burr and blushed.

After class Alex pulled John aside, "hey can I ask for some advice?"

"Ask away?" John asked intrigued, because what could the great Alexander Hamilton could possibly need help with.

"How do I ask Aaron out on a date?"

_Oh._

John felt his stomach drop. He smiled through it. "I mean he's not into big displays." John said thinking back to how Alex had asked Eliza out in front of the whole campus with a bouquet full of red roses. 

"So I can't just be like 'hey Aaron I wrote you a poem talking about how pretty your eyes are and by the way, wanna go out on a date?"

"No Alex, he'd probably faint," John chuckled.

Alex grinned "I'll ask him out to dinner at the diner tonight!"

"Sounds like you have your plan," he said ignoring the feeling in his chest.

"Maybe now that you and Aaron are becoming friends, we can all start hanging out?" Alex said with a small smile. "Anyways just a thought. Thank you John, I'll see you later! I've got to catch up to Aaron before he leaves." With that being said he raced off to the direction Burr left in. John watched him go with a heavy heart.

He started his walk back home. He sighed walking into his empty dorm and falling back onto his bed. He looked around the dorm and frowned. "I can't believe I'm saying this but I miss Aaron-" he blinked. _Wait did I just call Burr, Aaron?_ He groaned and pushed the thought away. _That’s a problem for another time._ "You know what I'm not going to sit here and be miserable and lonely." He said to himself. He pulled out his phone and texted Herc and Laf, 'hey drinks tonight? On me.'

\---

Aaron Burr was giddy for his date. When Alex had invited him to go get dinner to say the least he was surprised. He agreed to meet him at the local diner at five. He pulled on his favorite jeans and sweater before leaving. 

It wasn’t a long walk to get to the diner. When he saw Alex in the window checking his watch, he felt a strange flutter in his lower stomach. _God I’m nervous. Figures we'd both be ten minutes early,_ he thought. He had figured that if he could arrive early he would have had a moment to collect himself. Alex looked up and caught his eye. Aaron smiled and went into the diner to sit with the other. "Hey," he smiled.

"Hey," Alex smiled back. "Thank you for coming."

"Thank you for asking," Aaron blushed. The two stared at each other before erupting in nervous laughter. "Well my day felt like it was slow, how was yours?" 

Alex propped his head up on his palm of his hand. "Honestly the time couldn't go any slower, I think it's because I wanted to see you. Oh! I petted a nice cat on the way here." he added quickly. "I did wash my hands of course."

"A random cat? What if it had worms or fleas?" He asked concerned.

Alex thought for a moment, his eyes widened. "Oh shit! You're right. But it was such a nice cat. Totally worth it." He reached over for a menu popping it open. "If I did get worms I hope you'll still like me" he said looking through the menu.

Aaron chuckled, "maybe, we'd have to see about that." He teased. "Have you've eaten here before?" He asked scanning through the menu.

"Yeah it's my favorite restaurant. I love the fries here. Do you like potatoes?" Alex asked putting down the menu. 

"Potatoes? They aren't half bad, I can always go for fries though." He said following suit in closing his own menu. "What about you?"

"I'm down for some fried potatoes anytime. " Alex grinned. "You up for a big basket of fries?"

"That's the best idea I've ever heard," he agreed with the idea. “I must ask: are you a ketchup on the side kind of guy or on top?"

Alex started to sweat. "It depends on what mood I'm in. Side for taking my time, on top if I want to get a little messy."

"Does this moment require you to be messy or time?" He asked leaning in.

"This is definitely a 'taking time' moment.“ Alex murmured letting his eyes drop down to Aaron's lips.

Aaron leaned back into his seat "Seems we have the same idea," he said being a tease for once.

Alex's mouth was wide open. He called a waitress, "u-um yeah I want a extra large basket of fries, thanks." He ordered still in shock.

Aaron on the inside was freaking out, he just jumped out of his comfort zone "Oh um, can I get a Diet Coke?" He asked the waitress.

The waitress nodded and whisked off to take their orders in. Alex looked at his hands "so how was your day? W-what did you do?"

"Oh, well I got up this morning made coffee for Thomas and I. I talked to Laurens about our collaboration since we turned it in last night." He pressed thumb to his bottom lip in thought. "I saw a funny Buzzfeed video today! It was about puppies"

Alex chuckled. "Puppies? Tell me about it"

"The puppies were eating peanut butter for the first time," he smiled thinking about the video. "It was worth losing a minute to watch it"

Alex happily listed to him talk about the puppies. Hearing Aaron talk about his day no matter how boring it may be to others, it meant the world to him.

Aaron rambled on about the puppies until the waitress came with their order. "It's warm," he said feeling the heat radiating off of the fries.

“You may be honored with adding the ketchup,” he smiled at the other.

"With pleasure." Alex shook the bottle and squirted the tomato paste on the side.

"Why thank you my good sir." Aaron replied amused. He picked up one cheesy fry and put it in his mouth. He melted into his seat. "Mm you weren't wrong these are heavenly."

Alex popped one in his mouth also. "I'm glad you like it,” he grinned. "Maybe we should come here monthly."

"That can be arranged," he said his heart fluttering like a schoolgirl.

Alex smiled while he chewed. "You're so great. "

"Me? Says the guy who tried to give a 6 hour speech in class," he said. "How's your project going with you working with Jefferson."

Alex groaned, "Don't even get me started. We can't agree on anything! He challenged every idea I have. He's impossible to work with!" Aaron laughed hard. "Laugh at my pain I see," Alex said in a dramatic voice.

"He's not that bad," He hummed.

"You only think that because your somehow friends with him and Madison." Alex snorted. Aaron rolled his eyes.

"He seems like a shitty person but honestly he's not. It's weird like he actually cares about things like Madison. God the two should just date already, the way they make puppy eyes at each other is sickening." He huffed.

"Puppy eyes? What like this?" Alex chuckled making them at Aaron.

"Well it's not as sickening when you do it," The other mumbled. Alex grinned and opened his mouth before he was cut off by his phone going off. He frowned and hit ignore on the call. "Sorry it was Laf," he said as his phone started dinging with text messages. "What in the world?" Alex said opening his phone before making a face.

"What happened?" Aaron asked interested.

"The boys got wasted and John started a fight. They need me to come pick them up and tend to John's wounds." He grumbled.

"Is he okay? John I mean." Aaron asked concerned. His stomach dropped at the possibility that the other was hurt.

"Yeah, this is typical of him." Alex said fishing out a twenty to put on the table. "I'm sorry for our date being ruined."

"It's fine Alex, No worries." He said waving it off. "Do you want me to come with to get them with you? Sounds like you'll need the help." He could only imagine Alex trying to herd three drunk men on his own.

"That'd be great, thank you." Alex said.

Aaron took his hand and squeezed it. “No problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To start off I'd like to thank Jas for helping me write the date because I can't write dates to save my life. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I'm happy I was finally able to write the Hamburr date! As always kudos and comments are always appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> drunk confessions, pancakes, and fluff

Aaron sighed in annoyance as he helped Alex wrangle the three drunken men into the car. "Mulligan, please." He huffed trying to get this man who was twice his size into the back seat. Hercules laughed and finally got in. Alex had managed to get Lafayette into the seat behind the drivers, all that was left was to get John in. 

John was sitting in the front steps of the bar holding some ice to his black eye and a split lip. "Showed it to Lee! Gave 'im a bloody nose." John slurred. Aaron patted his back and helped haul John up with Alex. "Aaron," he slurred leaning his full weight onto the smaller man sending both of them down. 

"John, please," Aaron yelped laying underneath the man. Alex made a noise of panic and pulled him off.

"Aaron are you alright?" He asked looking him over.

"I'm fine," he said getting up to brush himself off. "Let's just get him in the car."

Finally, they managed to get the trio into the car. John who sat behind Aaron wouldn't stop touching him. "John please," He crossed his arms and swatted him away. Alex was doing his best to keep Hercules and Lafayette quiet as they sang loudly while he tried to focus on driving.

Aaron sighed in relief when they made it back to the dorms. Alex frowned "I can't take them back to my dorm, my roommate will kill me if I bring these three back drunk again."

" _Again?_ " Aaron muttered. "Thomas is out tonight and we can just take them back to my dorm." 

"Bringing me home on the first date?" Alex chuckled as pulled the men out of the back of his car. 

”Of course. Didn’t you hear its part of my strategy,” he joked making Alex laugh.

"Where are we going?" Lafayette asked as Alex led him to Aaron's dorm. 

"To Aaron's." Alex said.

"Ah little Burrs" Lafayette hummed back before falling over and passing out onto Alex. He gave Alex credit for being strong enough to catch him and stay upright. 

Aaron ran over to take Lafayette's feet. Much to Aaron's relief the rest of the walk to his dorm was less eventful (other than Hercules throwing up in the bushes). 

He helped Alex lay Lafayette on his Thomas' bed. Hercules groaned and crawled in next to Laf before passing out next to him.

"Sit John down in the kitchen so I can clean him up," Aaron instructed Alex as he pulled out his first aid kit. Once John was sat down at the table Aaron started to clean off the blood. 

"How bad is it?" Alex asked looking over Aaron's shoulder.

"Not bad he's fine, his split lip is already starting to clot, but that black eye is going to be here for a couple days." He said. Aaron started to pull John's bloody shirt off of him.

"Buy me dinner first at least, Aaron," John said flirtatiously making Alex raised a brow at John's comment but held his tongue. Aaron blushed and continued taking his shirt off. 

"I'm getting _you_ some water," Aaron yawned turning around to grab a cup.

"Aaron, why don't you lay down. I'll sober John up." Alex offered touching a hand to his dates. He could hear the fatigue in his voice.

Aaron smiled tiredly, "if you're sure." The man squeezed Alex's hand before disappearing into the other room to lay down. Alex watched him go before turning to John.

"On my date, John? Really?" He sighed handing the cup of water to the sitting man. "John?" He asked feeling the taller man wrap his arms around his waist and press his head into his chest.

"It's not fair, I-I've liked you for a long time." he said quietly, Alex's jaw dropped. "Seeing you with Aaron it-it makes me feel terrible. Terrible that I feel the way I do. But now I-I'm so confused, you made me feel weird and now Aaron is too." He rambled. Alex frowned and gently put a hand on his head. It broke his heart hearing his drunken confession. He loved John nothing more than a brother.

"John, if you still want to talk about this we can do it when you’re not drunk." Alex said softly as he plied the man off of him. "Let's get you to bed."

Alex led John to the room where Aaron sat waiting for the two. He looked between the two and sensed the tension. "Alex, is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, don't worry we can talk about it tomorrow." He assured Aaron with a small smile. He nodded and patted the bed inviting him in. Alex crawled over him to sleep closest to the wall. _I can't let him sleep on the floor_ , he thought watching John. The other looked around trying to figure out where to go. "John," Aaron said patting the bed next to him inviting him in. John perked up and climbed in beside him.

It was a tight squeeze but they fit. Alex had pressed himself against the wall but still managing to touch Aaron. He and John were back to back. Needless to say they had Aaron sandwiched between them. _This is awkwardly comfortable_ , he thought begrudgingly. He remembered Thomas saying something about how John looked at him and disregarded the claim. _He couldn't possibly- no, I shouldn't over think this_. He closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

\---

"Well isn't that just adorable."

Aaron opened an eye seeing the flash of Lafayette's phone go off. "What?" He asked groggily attempting to sit up. John and Alex had him looked in place. Sometime during the night John had rolled over and was basically spooning him. Mulligan chuckled watching him struggle. "Could someone help me?" He asked looking back at the two laughing at his predicament.

"Of course," Mulligan said stifling his laughter and shaking John. "Wakey, wakey." John groaned in response and started to wake up. His eyes widened when he realized the position he was in. "Sorry!" He said retracting his arms from Aaron and falling out of the bed making them laugh harder. Aaron blushed and rolled over to look at John.

"It's fine, no worries. Although, I never took you for a cuddling type, John." He blushed still feeling his arms around his waist. _Thank god for my darker skin_ , he thought happy his body wasn't betraying the warmth he felt in his face. John pushed himself up off the floor, his face beet red as he ran off to the kitchen without another word.

I'll make breakfast," Lafayette hummed running off after John with Mulligan on his tail. Alex took his queue and started to wake up.

"Good Morning, sleepy head," Aaron said teasingly. Alex smiled and propped himself up next to him.

Morning," he said leaning against him. "How’d you sleep? Any good dreams? I had one where we lived back in the American Revolution. It was crazy!" Aaron chuckled hearing him go on about how things were in his dream. He wasn’t fully paying attention to the story since he hadn’t had his morning coffee yet.

"I slept fine, no dreams though." He patted Alex's knee and lowered his voice. "Also what happened last night between you and John?"

Alex stilled and bit his lip, "John sort of confessed to me last night while he was drunk. I told him we'd talk about it when he sobered up."

"Do you like him in that way?" He asked timidly. _What if he was only after me because he thought John didn't like him?_ All sorts of these thoughts rushed through his head at once.

"What? No! Of course not Aaron!" Alex said repositioning himself to face him. "From the moment I laid eyes on you I knew I was going to fall hard. Any feelings I have for John is merely platonic." The Nevisian blushed and took Aaron's hands in his own. "I like you a lot Aaron Burr, don't you ever feel like I don't."

Aaron pulled him into a tight hug and pulled away to peck him on the cheek. Alex raised a hand to the spot and smiled. "Come on Lafayette's making breakfast we shouldn't keep him waiting."

"You're right, time to get up," Alex said stretching and climbing out of bed with Aaron in tow. They walked to the kitchen to see Mulligan sitting at the table talking to Lafayette, Lafayette making pancakes (or something resembling pancakes), and John nursing a hangover with a cup of water. 

Lafayette smiled with a twinkle in his eyes. "Seems the lovebirds are up and at it," he said finishing up the pancakes and placing them on a plate. John glanced up and looked between the two. He quickly looked away unable to meet their eyes. 

"How is everyone feeling?" Aaron asked sitting down next to Mulligan.

"Like shit." 

"I threw up in the bushes last night."

"I still feel slightly buzzed but nothing pancakes can't solve," Lafayette chirped. He put them out on the table for the four and went back to clean off the pans.

"I still can't believe you knocked Lee on his ass," Mulligan said clapping John on the shoulder. "I bet he'll have that black eye for days!"

"You fought Lee without me?" Alex said mocking a hurt expression. "You wound me John!"

John blushed at the attention. "Yeah that’ll teach him to think twice to talk shit. Aaron what's with the sour look?"

"Nothing, just fighting while drunk never is a good idea." He pointed out. "How's your lip and eye? You had me worried last night." Aaron leaned close to John's face inspecting the healing wounds.

"I'm sorry I worried you," he said honestly. He grew warm knowing Aaron cared. It wasn't hard to see Alex mirthless look he gave to John. _Was Alex jealous?_ He thought. _Funny how now he decides to show it now._ Mulligan cleared his throat as if trying to clear the tension, "these pancakes sure are good Laf."

Alex regained his energy and pushed a large piece of pancake into his mouth. "Mm so good, here Aaron try." He held up a piece on his fork. The man smiled and took the piece in his mouth. 

"Very good," he called over to Lafayette who took a small bow.

"Bonjour ya'll," came a distinct southern twang of none other than Thomas Jefferson. "That was sickeningly sweet." He said pointing at Aaron eating food off of Alex's fork. 

"Hey Thomas," Aaron chuckled wiping his mouth. "How was your night?"

"Good and by the smell coming from you guys I can tell you had a great night as well." He said leaning against the counter.

"Hello mon ami," Lafayette said to Thomas with a small smile. It was beyond Alex how those two managed to become friends.

"Hey Gil, it's been awhile, how have you been?" He asked. The two engaged in a friendly conversation in French.

"Hey I think I'm going to hit the road. Thank you Aaron for letting me crash here." John said after finishing his pancakes. Mulligan nodded in agreement and got up to go collect his belongings.

"I suppose I should be taking my leave also," Alex spoke up. "Aaron I had an amazing night with you and I hope we can do it again. Hopefully without getting interrupted." He added in. John winced at the jab at the end.

"Yeah, I look forward to it." Aaron said warmly. The four made their way out the door leaving Aaron and Thomas. 

Thomas' corkscrews bounced as he shook with laughter. "What?" Aaron asked as he picked up the dirty dishes off the table. The other man held up his phone to show him the picture that Lafayette took of Aaron sandwiched between John and Alex. "It seems like my previous statement was true." Thomas snickered watching Aaron babble excuses.

"Oh my god." He flushed as he finished up. He turned to face Thomas. "I've got to get to my weekly meet. Delete that picture by the time I get home or so god help me."

\---

Alex watched John and bit the inside of his cheek. We need to talk about last night! Just suck it up and ask Alexander! He thought. He cleared his throat. "John can we talk?" He asked. 

"...it's about last night isn't it?" The taller man asked.

"Yeah it is." Alex responded watching him fidget.

"Let's go back to my place then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! As always comments and kudos are appreciated! 
> 
> tumblr: dead-spacekid


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> drunk confessions the conclusion and meet Theo and Jon

Alex patted a beat onto his knees as he waited for John to come back with coffee. His mind was racing with a million thoughts on his best friend concerning the night before. 

"Here," John said handing Alex a freshly brewed coffee.

"Thanks." He smiled enjoying the warmth spreading to his fingertips from the coffee. The other mumbled back a response before sitting down across from him. "So what you said back at Aaron's..."

John averted his gaze.”That was out of line for me to say, especially when you're in a relationship."

"How long have you felt this way?" He asked.

"Ever since junior year in high school, so I guess for a while now. I always pushed it back, I figured you never felt the same way and now I probably just fucked things up."

"Of course not, John! You didn't fuck anything up. I could never hate you or like drop you over something you can't control. You shouldn't be ashamed of your feelings. You can't help how this things work. Plus, you're like my best bro! If anything it makes me feel closer to you."

John resisted the urge to say that he was being bro-zoned. I suppose me sorta crushing on your boyfriend would fly over well then, John thought hurriedly.

"I'm so relieved to hear that y’know you don't hate me or never want to talk to me again." He spilled, feeling a burn behind his eyes. He reached out and pulled Alex into a hug.

"Seriously, John, it'd take a lot more than that for you to be able to get rid of me." He laughed pulling away. John smiled and wiped his eyes.

"Sorry about ruining your date by the way," he apologized with a nervous laugh. "I hope Aaron wasn't too upset."

Alex waved his hand, "honestly don't worry about it. It was a great time while it lasted and makes a hell of a story to tell. _'Yeah on our first date we got called in to pick up my drunk friends'._ " He mused. "Anyways I got a kiss on the cheek this morning from him." 

John forced a smile. "Oh that's nice. I'm glad everything still worked out for you two." _God I need to sort myself out_ , he thought watching Alex smile happily. _I should be happy for him_.

"Oh and don't worry about the whole crush thing with Aaron. I talked to him about it this morning and he's fine with it." Alex added in.

"You told you're boyfriend that I liked you?"

"Yes? Was that not the right thing to do? I mean a key to a good relationship is being honest and open with your partner, I mean that’s what I heard. Anyways, he didn't seem too upset."

"'Too upset?' Alex, you don't tell your boyfriend that his best friend likes you. That's just an unspoken rule." John said trying talk some sense into Alex.

"Well he knew something was up so I couldn't exactly withhold that sort of information from him. Knowing Aaron he'd ask me til the end of time." Alex argued back. "John, seriously, it's fine. If you don't believe me talk to him about it yourself."

"Maybe I will," He said shortly. John really didn't believe Alex on Aaron being fine with this. "Hey man I'm glad we got to talk and all, but I've got some things I've got to do today." _Like figuring out my damn feelings and apologizing to Aaron_.

"Kicking me out already, I guess that means no to getting lunch together," he said getting up. "If you insist, John then I'll be on my way." Alex poured himself some more coffee before leaving. John noted that he also took his cup. 

He thought back to that morning when he was spooning his best friend’s boyfriend of all people. _God what's wrong with me? I can't possibly like him_. He groaned and thought about his options, _I need to talk to someone about this_. His phone screen lit up showing everyone’s favorite Frenchman. "Well whose better to talk about love than Laf."

\---

Theo grinned pulling Aaron into a hug. "You have to tell me all the details!" She said taking him by the hand and pulling him to a table at a local cafe.

"Wait until Jon gets here. I don't want to retell this story twice." He said waving her off.

"Can you at least tell me if you and your Alex kissed?" She asked excitedly.

"He's not _my_ Alex and does me giving him a kiss on the cheek count?" He blushed. 

"What's up? Theo looks like she's about to have a stroke." Jon said coming up behind Aaron. "Is this about that date you were gushing about over text?"

"Yes! Aaron kissed him!" Theo squealed. "Jon, our boy is growing up!" 

"Kissed? Damn Aaron you work fast."

"It was a kiss on the cheek! Dear lord!" He said slumping back in his seat. Jon and Theo laughed at his outburst.

"Okay, now that Jon’s here can you please give the details of your date?" She asked leaning towards him.

"Yeah man spill the beans. Give us all the dirty deets," Jon urged with a wicked smile.

"You know if you two didn't choose to go to different colleges this wouldn't be a problem," he pointed out. 

"Hush you big baby."

"So he asked me out to dinner after class. I was so surprised, because you guys know I've liked him for a while now," he rambled. Theo and Jon's eyes were glued onto him as he told his story. "I had the greatest time, Alex is great. We got a basket of fries to share and just talked. It-It was nice.” Aaron bit his lip to hide his smile. “It was a hell of a first date though. Halfway, through it his friends called him needing to be picked up from a bar because they got into a drunken brawl."

Jon’s jaw dropped, "he had to leave because his friends got into a fight at a bar? Aaron what kind a guy are you dating?"

"Correction, _I_ went with him to pick up his friends. Alex and his friends ended up coming back to my dorm and spent the night there."

"Thomas allowed it?" Theo asked raising a brow.

"Wasn't there, I suspect he spent the night at James'." Aaron informed. Theo and him shared a knowing smile. The two had an ongoing bet with Angelica whether Thomas and James were going to date by the time she came home from studying abroad in London.

"So you took this Alex guy home on the first night?" Jon asked propped his head on his hand. 

"You say it like we messed around." Aaron said straight faced. Jon laughed and wiggled a brow at Aaron. "Gross, Jon. Anyways it would have been impossible, his friend ended up sharing a bed with us."

"Oo you were cockblocked," Theo chimed in.

"There has to be more that happened," Jon said leaning forward onto the table. Aaron thought back to being held by both John and Alex. How _right_ it felt. 

"Not unless you consider Lafayette making pancakes is eventful." Aaron said, quickly pushing the thought out of his head. Perhaps too fast, Jon didn’t seem to buy it.

"Still think you're not telling us something," He snorted and leaned back into his chair.

"Awe how's Laf doing it’s been a while since I've seen him," Theo said cutting Jon short, changing the topic.

"He's doing well, better than most hung over people I know," Aaron chucked. He smiled looking down into his lap watching Alex's name flash on his screen. "Hey guys give me a sec Alex is calling." He got up out of his seat to go outside and answer his phone.

"Hey what's up?" He asked answering.

"So John and I talked," Alex said breathily. _We can just skip formalities I guess_ , Aaron thought.

"About the whole drunk confession?"

"Yes! It actually didn't go as bad as I thought it would. I was thinking he was going to blow up claim that I was his and that he'd go after you. Then there'd be this whole huge love triangle thing."

"Really?" Aaron said raising a brow.

"Not really," Alex laughed back. "He took it very well. Y’know the whole 'hug and make up' type of thing."

"I'm glad everything worked out for you two. It's hard to imagine you two not being friends." Aaron said rubbing the toe of his shoe into the ground.

"I'm sure that'd turn a couple heads," Alex agreed. "Oh shit I didn't interrupt anything did I? I remember you mentioning something about a weekly lunch with some of your friends."

"I wouldn't say interrupt but yes we are having our weekly lunch slash get together, nothing to worry about."

"Alright I won't keep you any longer. I'll see you later, Aaron. Don't do anything too crazy," he joked. "Love you."

_Love._

Aaron's heart drummed against his chest. "I uh- bye!" He said hanging up and his eyes widened in realization. "Ah shit I didn't say it back!" He quickly maneuvered his way to his messages and texted Alex: 'sorry! Love you too, have a nice day.' His cheeks burned as he hit send and watched the screen with anticipation. 

'No worries, have a great day also! Love you more <3'

Aaron sighed in relief and couldn't help but smile at the cheesy, love text. He stuck his phone back into his pocket and went back to his friends inside. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th! I finally have a set or at least idea of how many chapters this is going to be. Kudos are appreciated and comments are loved.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lafayette's advice and John's admission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tipsyturtle- John  
> a.hamlet- Alex  
> aye-aye-ron- Aaron  
> heracles- Hercules  
> largebaguette- Lafayette  
> burnbaby- Eliza  
> margaritatuesdays- Peggy

John tapped the styrofoam cup of his latte waiting for Lafayette to show up. A warm drink helped take the edge off of his trepidation. He hoped that his friend would be able to help him with his 'problem' as he started calling it. On time as usual Lafayette came striding up to John's table, a frothy drink in hand. "Another one of your girly drinks?" John teased lightly.

"Ha ha very funny," Lafayette replied back sarcastically. "So what do I owe this visit too?"

John bit his lip and pulled at the hem of his shirt. _How do I approach this casually?_ "So you and Adrienne are like a power couple, how did you know that you liked her?" Laf sipped his drink, thinking for a moment. 

"Well I've known Adrienne since well, we were kids back in France. I can't honestly say that I know exactly when, it just kind of crept up on me," he said staring thoughtfully into his drink. "One day I just woke up and realized she was the one. Funny because later that day I asked her to come to America with me on a whim and she said yes. Ever since she's been mon coeur." Lafayette smiled fondly thinking of Adrienne.

"So it's like a big epiphany moment then? Realizing you like someone?" John asked dumbfounded.

"Oui in some cases I suppose. Each person is different, not everyone will wake up one day and realize it. John, is there a particular reason why you're asking me about my relationship?" Lafayette hummed staring John down from across the table.

"What makes you think that there's a reason?" John said nervously. _Delicately John, don't jump in head first_ , he told himself.

"You have that look and I know that look. We've been friends for a while now." Laf reminded him.

"So I think I like someone that's not Alex." He admitted after a moment. The other man raised his brows and leaned in. "I don't know him that well but whenever I'm around him I get these butterflies." _God I sound like a cliché_.

"If you like this person what are you waiting for?" He asked listening to John's rambles.

"Well for one he's in a relationship."

_"Oh merde."_

"Oh merde right," he sighed letting his head fall to the table. "I'm not going to be _that_ asshole who breaks a couple up because I can't keep it in my pants."

"Have tried hanging out with this boy more? Maybe you'll find out more about him and they'll be something you don't like or you may not actually like him at all. After all you did say you don't know him that well. He could chew funny for all you know." Lafayette said patting John's curls.

"Well he doesn’t chew funny, I've eaten lunch with him." He looked up through his hair, "there doesn't seem to be one thing wrong with him. Like he's perfect Laf."

"No one’s perfect, John. I'm sure your copain has a flaw, everyone does." John nodded listening tentatively to him. 

"And what if I still like him even after finding out this 'flaw'?" Half his latte was gone due to him being a stress drinker.

"Well if you still like him, really like him then go for it," Lafayette said with a nod. "So do I get the honors of knowing your mystery man?"

"Laf if I told you, you would judge me so hard," he said rubbing his face.

"Try me, I promise I won't tell anyone else."

"Aaron."

"Aaron? As in Aaron Burr? Our best friend Alex's Aaron?" The way Lafayette's voice went higher each word made John want to curl up under a rock.

"You're judging me, I should've never said anything." He said back panicking.

"No, no! John, I'm just surprised is all! I never imagined you would like little Burr." The Frenchman let out a breath of air and sank back against his seat processing his confession. "I take back what I said don't pursue Burr."

"What? You're going back on your philosophy!"

"Yeah well I said that before I found out you liked Alex's copain!" Lafayette said in a hushed tone. John ran a hand through his hair in frustration and groaned. "There's nothing wrong with being his friend though. Give it a try, just don't do anything reckless."

"I'm more than able to keep it in my pants," he said. "I'm already his friend? I think."

"You think?" The other asked raising a brow. John opened his mouth to reply but Lafayette held up a hand. "Let me stop you there. John, you're starting to over think this."

"I am aren't I?"

"Yes you are," Lafayette chortled. "As much as I'd love to talk about your love life some of us have errands to run today." He finished off his drink and liked the bubbles from his lips.

"I'll see you later then I guess," John said gathering his things. "Thank you for the talk by the way. It felt nice to open up about this."

"I'm glad I could help you clear some things up. If you ever want to talk more about it I'm here for you," Lafayette said warmly and wrapped him in a one armed hug. "I'll see you later."

John stared down at his unfinished latte contemplating what Lafayette had said. "I can settle for friendship," he told himself. His phone buzzed with an onslaught of new messages.

_tipsyturtle was added to the chat by a.hamlet_

_heracles was added to the chat by a.hamlet_

_largebaguette was added to the chat by a.hamlet_

_ay-ay-ron was added to the chat by a.hamlet_

_burnbaby was added to the chat by a.hamlet_

_margaritatuesdays was added to the chat by a.hamlet_

**a.hamlet:** okay everyone

 **a.hamlet:** I bet you're all wondering why I called you here

 **a.hamlet:** but imagine

 **a.hamlet:** pizza party with shitty sci-fi movies 

**heracles:** tonight???

 **a.hamlet:** yes tonight

 **a.hamlet:** yes it's last minute but some of the best things come late

 **a.hamlet:** AND YOLO

 **tipsyturtle:** if I say that I'll come will you never use yolo again

 **a.hamlet:** yes

 **largebaguette:** I'm with Adrienne, can she come as well? She had a great time with everyone last time

( _So that was his errand_ , John mused.)

 **a.hamlet:** yes of course!!

 **largebaguette:** then expect us :^)

 **ay-ay-ron:** I'll be there what time?

 **a.hamlet:** 5 sound good? You can spend the night of you want the roomie will be out

 **burnbaby:** I'll be there!! :) want me to bring anything??

 **margaritatuesdays:** I can come if someone can pick me up from work

 **heracles:** I gotcha 

**margaritatuesdays:** Herc you are a life saver

 **a.hamlet:** just bring anything you want really

 **a.hamlet:** I have drinks and some chips, if anyone wants to get pizza that'd be great

 **tipsyturtle:** I'll get the pizza don't worry

 **heracles:** whoop John you the real MVP

John threw away the latte and dialed the number of the pizza place. "Hello I'd like to order one cheese pizza and one pepperoni." _Aaron likes pineapple_ , he thought. "Oh and one pineapple also. Yes that'll be all, thank you." He grabbed his keys and went to go pick up the pizzas.

\---

As expected picking up the pizzas went smoothly and John was on his way over to Alex's dorm. He parked in the student parking and balanced the three pizzas in his arms. A familiar figure over by the back entrance to the building caught his eye.

"Aaron?" He asked approaching.

The man jumped and turned face first into the wall. "Fuck!" He cursed dropping his cigarette to rub his nose.

"You smoke!?" He said amused that out of all people Aaron Burr smokes.

"John? Oh my- please don't say anything to anyone else." He said scrambling to step on the cigarette.

John laughed watching him. "You act as if you committed a sin. It's just smoking Aaron, although I am surprised that you do it."

"I usually don't, but every now and then I do. It's just something I don't feel comfortable with people knowing; seriously the only people that know I smoke are Angelica, Thomas, and James." He said looking up at John.

"And now me. Don't worry Aaron, I can keep a secret." He shifted the pizzas into one arm and placed a hand on the others arm. "Don't worry I wouldn't tell a soul."

Aaron smiled and relaxed, "thank you John." He dug around in his pocket and popped in a stick of mint gum to mask the scent of nicotine. "I've seen a couple people go up, I suppose we should get going also."

"After you," John chuckled stepping back for him to lead the way.

"What a gentleman, what next? Will you be laying your coat over puddles for me?" He joked.

"Maybe I will," he winked making Aaron laugh. He suddenly felt aware of his heart beating hard in his chest, the way his ears heated up and there it was all because of the man standing beside him. 

"John? We're here." Aaron said waving his hand in front of his face. "You drifted off on me," he chuckled, knocking on the door. Alex opened it and grinned.

"My two favorite people! Hurry in we just started 'Big Ass Spider'." A chorus of hellos came from the room. The group was huddled around Alex's old box TV watching the cheesy sci-fi movie. 

"Pardon me, Betsey," John hummed sliding the pizzas in the middle of his friends. "Alright everyone I got cheese, pepperoni, and pineapple."

"Pineapple? That's different," Peggy said sitting up.

"Aaron likes it," John said throwing a sheepish smile over to him. 

"Oh jeez, you didn't have to get me a whole pizza." He said but reached for a piece anyways. Alex leaned over and stole a bite. "Alex!" He laughed.

"You have good taste, babe." Alex said licking his lips. He wrapped his arms around the others waist and pulled him onto his lap. Aaron smiled contently and settled against his chest.

Hercules hummed, "their disgustingly sweet aren't they?"

"Their cute," John shrugged glancing at the oblivious couple.

"You're just jealous," Peggy teased flicking Hercules. Eliza wrapped her arms around him. "Don't worry you big bear you can cuddle with me if you’re lonely." Hercules pushed her away playfully laughing.

John couldn't help but feel out of place, he thanked God the doorbell rung giving him a distraction. "Must be Laf and Adrienne." He said going to get the door.

"Get your errand done?" He asked letting them in.

"Oui, it is complete," Lafayette hummed. "Adrienne you remember John right?"

"Yes, my love. I remember John, how are you dear? “She asked, her accent was thicker than Lafayette's.

"Very well, it's nice seeing you again." He said leading them to see the others. Another chorus of hellos came from the group at their arrival.

"Love, this is Alex's boyfriend, Aaron." Lafayette said introducing her to him. Aaron leaned forward to shake her hand.

”Pleasure to meet you,” Aaron said politely.

”The pleasures all mine,” she replied.

After introductions were done Lafayette and Adrienne took over the other bed. They sprawled out and lay in each other's arms. John looked around the room. Hercules, Eliza, and Peggy occupied the floor and in the other bed were Aaron and Alex.

"John, sit with us," Aaron smiled waving him over. The other shifted in Alex's lap to pat the bed, "plenty of room." He glanced at Alex, whose eyes were glued to the screen to even notice.

"Alright, if you're offering," he said plopping down at the other end and propping his head up with a pillow.

"You can put your legs on my lap, if you want to stretch out," Aaron offered. _What the hell, why not? It's going to be a long night anyways_ , he thought and laid his legs over Aaron's. 

The other turned his attention back to the screen. His hands absentmindedly settled on top of John's legs and lightly traced circles. He looked over at Adrienne and Lafayette. They were engaged in a quiet conversation, Lafayette smiled at something she said and pressed a small kiss to her lips. _That must be what love looks like, the way they look at each other as if they’re the only people in the world._ John looked away and back at Alex and Aaron. The way Alex stole small glances at the man in his lap. He looked at him the way Lafayette looked at Adrienne. Pure, unadulterated love.

And suddenly, John couldn't focus on anything else, only his heart beating and Aaron's fingers tracing patterns on his legs. _I like him_. He felt a cold feeling wash over him at the admission. He liked his best friend’s boyfriend and he felt guilty as hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update! I just needed a small break and when I started writing I wanted to make this chapter perfect so I ended up rewriting it a couple times. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Kudos are appreciated and comments are loved.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angelica's coming hoooome

_**Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well- my chain hits my chest -** _

Aaron opened an eye and ran a hand over his face. "The hell? Angelica?" He mumbled pulling his phone out of his pocket. _Note to self change that fucking ringtone_. He looked around at the sleeping bodies around him, the sci-fi channel still playing from the TV. He carefully maneuvered himself off of Alex to avoid waking him, and out the door. "You do realize what time it is right?"

"Oh shit, sorry! I wouldn't call unless it was _utmost_ importance, I need you to come pick me up from the airport tonight."

"Excuse me?"

"I need you-"

"I know I heard you, weren't you supposed to come home tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but I got lucky and they had a flight for this day, I'm boarding like right now."

"Are you serious? What about calling one of your sisters?" He yawned and scratched the top of his head.

"I want it to be a surprise! I'm sure if you ask James he'll let you borrow his car. Anyways I'll see you tonight!" Aaron opened his mouth to protest but the line was dead.

"Angelica I'm going to kill you," he said to himself. Aaron let himself back into the dorm and checked on his sleeping friends. He sighed with relief seeing he didn't wake any of them up. His eyes wandered to Alex and John who were both dead asleep. He smiled watching John clutch a pillow close to him and curl up around it.

Aaron found himself missing being in bed between John and Alex, the beating of two hearts next to him. I couldn't help but feel guilty at the thought. He loved Alex with all his heart, yet he was having thoughts about John ever since that night. A sense of déjà vu swept over him. He thought back to his earlier high school days to when he was dating Jon. Later into the relationship he had also found himself growing attracted to an old friend, William Van Ness. He never told Jon since he felt guilty over it; instead he had broken up with him. Aaron was just happy he still wanted to be his friend after and things went back to usual. He eventually got over both his crushes of his friends and moved on.

Here he was feeling as low as he did then. Aaron hated how natural it felt being with both of them. _There's something wrong with me_ , he thought turning away and heading to the kitchen. He reached for Alex's cheap coffee and started to make some for himself.

"Hey there."

Aaron jerked in surprise and whipped around to see Alex standing at the doorway. "Jesus, Alex don't sneak up on me. Shit I spilled some of my coffee!" 

"Good Morning to you too," Alex said with his usual upbeat tone. "You already started making coffee? You are the man of my dreams. Speaking of dreams maybe it wasn't a good idea to fall asleep watching 'Eight-Legged Freaks'." 

"Did you happen to dream of these 'eight legged freaks'?" Aaron chuckled pouring the other a cup. Alex smiled taking the coffee and took a small sip.

"Yes it was wild. Giant spiders everywhere, can you imagine!" Alex chattered about his dream. Aaron being half awake had only picked up on bits and pieces of the story. "What about you, Aaron do you dream?" He asked out of nowhere. 

"Not often, well technically everybody dreams. I just don’t remember them." Aaron said with a shrug. "I had a dream not too long ago." Alex stared at him expecting a story, he smiled softly and decided to oblige him. "It was a memory from forever ago. It was the Christmas before my parents died. I could remember the house exactly how it was; decorated to the nines, it was my mom’s favorite holiday so she always went all out. I was only 9 but I remember everything from that morning to that night. It was one of the best Christmas' of my life, Sally and I didn't even fight once, back then that was a big deal." He stared down at his coffee; it had only been a couple days after his parents died in a car accident. It had been a tragedy, but it had pushed him to skip two grades and be where he was now. Without that he wouldn't be here with Alex.

When he looked back up, Alex was pulling him close. Their lips touched and Aaron melted. Alex tasted like coffee with a faint touch of mint. Any lingering guilt disappeared and all he could feel was the other. "I love you," Alex said softly.

"I love you too," he said back. His heart was pounding hard in his chest at the words. Alex smiled and pressed another kiss to his lips. When they parted they stared at each other and smiled at each other. "Wow that's- i wouldn't be against doing that again."

"Me too, I'm sure we can do it plenty more in the time to come," Alex said, his eyes smiled. Aaron didn't even know it was possible for someone's eyes to smile until now. 

"Seems the troops are up." He said hearing movement in the other room. "Will they eat here or what?" 

"Yeah they're scavengers; they'll find something to eat," Alex replied finishing his coffee and going in for his second cup. 

John walked in, his curls wild and in all directions. "And I thought my bed head was bad."

"Aaron you shave your hair," he deadpanned.

"That-that's the point of the joke," he said embarrassed at it. John, finally connecting the dots, laughed.

"Sorry I'm a bit slow in the morning before I get my coffee," he apologized. 

"Did Aaron just get wrecked?" Eliza asked walking in with the rest.

"It appears that way," Hercules said with a nod. "Hey man are you okay? You need some water for whatever burn just happened?"

Alex was hunched over the kitchen counter with silent laughter. "Oh my god no," Aaron mumbled. John patted his shoulder, "no need to be ashamed." 

"Trust me Aaron the first time I hung around these guys I got burned so bad I felt it into the next week," Peggy said. Eliza and Herc nodded in agreement. "Anyone know we're Laf and Adrienne are?"

Alex looked around, "yeah their M.I.A."

"Now that I think about it they weren't here when I woke up this morning," Aaron thought aloud.

"Oh they left early, I managed to catch them before they left. Something about needing to Skype someone. Probably a relative back in France," John spoke up. "Personally I think they were going to go fuck in the car."

"Nice of them to leave without saying goodbye," Alex said ignoring John's last statement.

"As much as I'd love to stay here and hang out, I'm going to be following them out, I have places to be today." Aaron said pressing a kiss to Alex's cheek. 

"So soon?" Alex asked frowning. "Do you need a ride? I'd hate for you to take the bus or walk."

,p>"I can take you," John offered, Alex made a face at him. "I should be heading out anyways I have homework I have to do. Y’know that paper Washington assigned that’s due in like two days."

"Oh um if you're sure, John. Thanks," Aaron smiled. "I'll see you later, my love." He said leaning over to kiss Alex once more.

"Alright, drive safe you two." Alex said. 

"Don't worry I'll keep your boy safe," John said pulling out his keys and jingled them. "Whenever you're ready."

"I'm ready," Aaron confirmed. "It was nice seeing you guys again." He waved to Peggy, Eliza, and Hercules. He followed John out to his car.

"Thank you again for driving me," he threw in again as he got in.

"Seriously it's no problem. Your dorm isn't too far from mine anyways," he said with a small smile. He started to drive, the two sat in comfortable silence. Aaron closed his eyes, listening to the other sing along softly to some obscure indie song on the radio.

"You have a nice voice," Aaron spoke up. John stopped and went red. "No, no keep going I like it." He nodded and continued singing until they got to his dorm.

"We're here,” John said looking over at him. 

"It would appear so, thank you again for driving me."

"No problemo," he said flashing a thumbs up. Aaron was ready to get out but was stopped by John grabbing his elbow. "Wait! So, uhm if you want to hang out sometime that'd be great. I miss pineapple pizza together and stuff."

"And stuff?" Aaron tittered raising a brow.

"Yes stuff." John said with a goofy smile.

"I'd be happy to get pineapple pizza and do ‘stuff’ again," Aaron said. He ignored his conscience telling him not to say yes but how could he say no to him. "Just text me when." He gave him a small wave before turning around to go to his dorm.

Whilst walking back he spied James' beat down, old station wagon. _Well at least I won't have to call him to ask_ , he thought making his way up the stairs. He found himself humming to the song in the car, “I’ll have to find it later.” He said to himself and opened the door to the dorm.

"Hey James can I- holy shit." Aaron watched Thomas scrambled off of James, both were both flushed and guilty looking.

"Aaron it isn't what it looks like," Thomas tried. James was hiding his face in embarrassment.

"Oh I'm completely sure it is what it looks like," Aaron said trying to keep from grinning. "Angelica owes Theo and I forty dollars."

"Did you, Theodosia, and Angelica really have a bet on us?" James asked from his spot on the couch. 

"Yes and now I'm forty dollars richer."

"Ah fuck," Thomas said, he couldn't help but give out a suppressed laugh. "We were waiting to tell you."

"Well, either of you can make it up by letting me borrow one of your cars." He said leaning against the wall.

"You can take mine," James sighed throwing the keys at Aaron. He caught them and smiled. "Why do you need the car anyways?"

"Don't tell anyone but Angelica's coming home early, as in tonight. She wants it to be a surprise, so no telling anyone." The two nodded. "Oh so I have news, Alex and I kissed."

"You might want to get tested who knows what kind of diseases Hamilton has," Thomas said. 

James hit Thomas' arm, "not nice. I’m sure Hamilton doesn’t have any diseases although I _could_ look into..." James said trailing off inot thought but came back too. “I’m happy for you Aaron. It sounds like you're really happy” I should be happy and content with Alex but John...

"I'm just saying..." Thomas shrugged and sat down next to James. "What's with the look?"

"I'm sorry?"

"The look on your face, it looked all crestfallen for a moment. Everything okay?" Thomas asked his voice oddly caring.

"I'm fine, no worries," Aaron said putting on one of his carefully mastered smiles. "I'm going to take a small nap, I want to be well rested since Ang's flights coming in late."

"Alright, I'm spending the night so I'll see you later," James said with a small wave. Aaron returned it back before heading over to his bed.

He laid back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Stop thinking," he told himself. He couldn't though, _I should've said no until I can get over this stupid crush. Should I even call it a crush? He's just a good friend_. Aaron turned over and buried his face into the pillow. _Well I'm definitely not throwing away my relationship with Alex like I did with Jon._ He knew that much at least. 

Overall he ended up getting a half hour of sleep before having to get up and get Angelica. He said bye to Thomas and James and drove to the airport ("Don't forget to call us when you get there, you don't know what kind of crazy drivers are on the road at night!" Thomas had told him). He waited by the security check and smiled seeing a familiar head of curls. "Aaron!" She grinned running over and wrapping him in a tight hug.

"It's nice seeing you too," he said patting her awkwardly. "By the way you owe Theo and I forty bucks."

"They’re dating!?" 

"Saw it with my own two eyes," he said with a nod. "Don't get too eager they haven't told me any details yet."

"Doesn't matter, I want to hear about you and Alex," she said with a wicked grin.

"Well you know about the date, uh let's see. Oh last night we had movie night-"

"Oh did you two watch a romcom?"

"-with the group."

"Alex really doesn't know how to pick dates," she sighed, shaking her head.

"I don't know if it was so much a date, but we hit a mile stone."

"Well don't held back now," she huffed.

"We had our first kiss and said our first 'I love you's." Angelica's face light up.

"Oh my god, this is the greatest!" She said grinning.

"Wanna know something funny?" He asked he couldn't help but smile back. They climbed into the car.

"Yes!"

"Okay you can't tell anyone else but at the movie night I was sitting on Alex's lap and well, he got a hard on."

Angelica's jaw dropped. "He didn't."

"He did."

She bursted out laughing. "Oh my- what did you do?"

"I shifted around a little just to be an ass, it eventually went down though." He added in, "anyways it would have been weird if I did anything else seeing as though John was sharing a bed with us."

"John Laurens? The guy who has a crush on your boyfriend?" She said.

"The very one. Alex and him talked about it and it's all fine now," he informed her.

"There's no way someone can just move past a crush that easily." She said not buying it.

"I'm just saying what Alex told me," he shrugged. "He hasn't made a move or anything. Today he actually told me he wanted to hang out after he dropped me off at home." 

"He drove you home? Aaron, John's not a bad guy, but could he possibly using you to try and make Alex jealous?" She said watching the road.

"I-" _could I have read into things wrong? Maybe she's right. The only reason John wants to hang out with me is because of Alex._ "He wouldn't would he? I mean that's sort of a low blow."

"I don't know, just a thought. I’ve known John for awhile now, he isn’t the type of guy to do that. I hope. Don't go assuming things just yet." She warned him. "Let's change the topic; this is supposed to be happy times! So I met this boy in London..." At that point Aaron zoned out. Of course he made the usual fake nods and sounds to make it look like her was paying attention but his mind was on what Angelica said earlier. _John wouldn't do that would he?_

\---

Aaron dropped her back off at her dorm and bid her a goodnight before driving back to his. He parked in student parking and sat there. His eyes wandered up to the sky and then to his phone. He needed something to distract him. 

"He must be up," he said thinking aloud. "He's always up." Aaron picked up his phone and dialed Alex's number. After a couple rings a familiar voice chimed in from the other end.

"Aaron? Is everything okay? You're usually in bed at this time."

"Yeah I am, I just wanted to talk to you." I needed to hear your voice.

"What's up?"

"Star gaze with me?" He asked.

"Over the phone?" 

"Yeah, I learned a couple over the years. I mean it's okay if you're busy and don't want too," he rambled nervously.

"I'd love too, just give me a sec to go outside." He could hear the squeak of Alex's chair moving as he got up. "I'm looking now."

Aaron looked up at the sky his eyes moving languidly over the stars. "Do you see that bright star?" He heard Alex hum a 'yes'. "That's Sirius and if you look a bit more closely you'll see Orion's Belt." 

"I see it," Alex said softly. "What else do you see?"

"Orion’s Belt stars points out the Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus, it's opposite to Sirius. " He yawned in between words. "The big dippers there too. It's a nickname for Ursa Major or otherwise known as the great bear."

"You're tired, I can hear you yawning." He could hear the fondness in Alex's voice.

"Great observation," he murmured back.

"Go to bed, I love you."

"I love you too, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update! I've had a very busy couple days. I hope it was worth the wait.
> 
> Kudos are appreciated and comments are loved.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pineapple pizza and stuff

_'So pineapple pizza and stuff today sound good?'_

Aaron stared at the text from John. He couldn't believe he was debating whether or not to go. _Damn Angelica_ , he thought exasperated, for the past week and a half he had been avoiding John or making an excuses to avoid hanging out. _This isn't fair for him what if he isn't doing this to make Alex jealous and I'm just being a jerk_. He typed _'yes'_ and let his finger linger over the send button. Thomas came behind him and plucked it out of his hand. "Hey," he huffed reaching for his phone.

"Oh what's this," Thomas said grinning as he read over the messages. He looked over to Aaron and hovered his finger over the send button.

"You wouldn't."

He hit send and tossed the phone back. "I would, you're welcome." Thomas said watching the other fall face first into the couch and groan. "Anyways I think you need to get out of here, you've been sulking ever since Angelica came home," Aaron opened his mouth to counter the other but was cut off. "No, Aaron, not a word because even Hamilton asked me if you were okay. He actually talked to me without antagonizing me which says something. Seriously what's up?"

"Can you promise to keep this between us? I mean between us Thomas, not a word to James." He said seriously. The other nodded and sat down, might as well tell someone before this eats me alive. "Okay so when I was driving home with Angelica I mentioned that John and I have been hanging out more. Well long story short, she said that John might just be using me to make Alex jealous," his hand shook as he finished.

Thomas frowned and put a hand to his shoulder. "Sure he had a crush on Hamilton but I'm pretty sure that's over. Aaron, the way he looks at you is far from jealousy, if anything I'd put my money on that he likes you. Anyways, if he were to pull that shit James and I would get him. Seriously, James is scary when he's angry, the one time I saw him mad I pissed myself." That earned a small laugh out of Aaron; Thomas smiled glad that the other wasn't feeling as bad. "Don't fret, go out and have a good time with him. I'm going over to James' so I'll see you tonight." Aaron voiced his goodbye watching the other gather his stuff.

"Wait? Likes me? What do you mean?" He asked raising his brows at Thomas' earlier statement.

"Have fun, Aaron!" The man laughed closing the door behind him as he left. John likes me? He wondered to himself, no way that's possible. He looked back to his phone to see John's response: _'sweet :) want me to pick you up at noon?'_

Aaron sucked in a breath, "there's no going back now." He typed back a confirmation and nodded to himself. "Okay so I'm doing this."

\---

_'I'm here!'_

_'Alright I'll be down in a minute.'_

Aaron adjusted his scarf and pulled on his coat. He tucked his phone and keys into his pocket and headed down to meet John. He smiled seeing the other and got into the car. "Hey," John said with a smile.

"Hey thanks for getting me," he shivered and pulled his coat tighter around him. "Man it's getting cold out."

"Shouldn't be long until it actually snows," John agreed turning up the heat a bit for him. "So pizza first and then we'll figure out the rest there?"

"Sounds good to me," he nodded jerking foreword as John pressed on the gas. "How's your morning been?"

John hummed a tune, "pretty swell, I'm hoping we can have some fun," He swerved and sped down the road. "Oh yeah seat belts!"

"No kidding," he said snapping himself in. He held back a remark on John's driving. _How did I not notice his driving before?_ He then realized he had been distracted by John's voice. _I'm in deep_ , he internally slapped himself.

John perked up and gave Aaron a toothy smile. "I have an idea!" He said taking his eyes off the road. "Let's ice skate after pizza to burn it off."

"Sounds good, there's a skating rink down town that's cheap to rent the skates," he nodded watching the road for John. "On your left!"

John swerved and continued driving. Aaron almost jumped with joy when he parked "I'm such a good driver. Why are you so pale?" He asked.

"John you almost hit three cars and a old lady on the way here," he said holding on tightly to his seat.

The other stopped and thought about it. "They moved didn't they?" He chuckled getting out and closing the door.

"Okay you have me there," Aaron admitted closing the door and led the other up to the pizza parlor.

John followed looking at the place, "looks cozy." He said as they chose a booth close to the hearth to stay warm. The two shed off their coats and scarves to get comfortable. "Should we get a small pineapple pizza?"

"You have read my mind," Aaron nodded.

The waiter came up, "what can I get you gentlemen?" He asked taking out his pad of paper.

"A small pineapple pizza and I'll take a coke. You?" John turned to Aaron.

"A root beer please," he said politely to the waiter.

The waiter nodded and went off with their orders. John tapped a small beat into the table, "how's the dorm going?"

"Well I've walked in on Thomas and James making out several times, those are things you can't unsee." He shuddered. "You don't have that problem I suppose since you're room mate is hardly there."

John gasped. "THEY WERE LIP LOCKIN'!?" 

"Yes it was so nasty, I swear I heard Thomas moan! My poor, virgin ears," he said making a dramatic face. John laughed loudly, throwing his head back to release the laugh. The waiter placed down their food and drinks, "could you please quiet it down?" He said giving them an annoyed look.

"Yes sir," they said in unison. After the waiter left they looked at each other and laughed harder. Aaron wiped his tears from his eyes. "Oh my god," he said still giggling as he took a bite from the pizza.

John took a slice for himself and took a bite. "You were right this place is pretty good," he said taking a sip. "You know what would make it better? HOOD JAMS!"

Aaron snorted. " _Hood jams_? John you're the farthest from hood," he reminded the senator's son.

"Can a guy at least try?" He pouted crossing his arms and making a face that made Aaron's heart clench.

"Fine. What 'hood jams' do you want to listen too?" He asked raising a brow.

"This." John grinned and took out his phone, placing it onto the table. After a minute he put on ‘Single Ladies’.

Aaron couldn't help but smile. "Perfect," he chuckled watching John lip sync along to the song. After the song ended John asked between bites how Alex was.

"Alex is good, always nonstop y'know?" Aaron said with a fond smile. "He's made it a thing were we have a date night once week since we're both always busy."

John nodded feeling a twinge of jealously. He forced a smile, "that sounds good." Aaron noticed the change in his voice but kept quiet. _Is he… jealous?_

"Oh John, you have a little something there," he said leaning over to get some sauce off of the corner of his mouth with his thumb. He blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry a habit I picked up from my sister," he apologized wiping his thumb off on a napkin.

John was beet red, "I, uh, no don't be. Thanks for getting that sauce off"

"Er, no problem," he said shoving pizza in his mouth to distract himself. Aaron stole a glance at John; he tried to ignore the feeling of his heart slamming in his chest.

John played with his straw, "So you like ice skating?" He asked.

Aaron smiled at the change, "I was a figure skater up until I was 9. It's a secret passion of mine."

"Oohh a secret?" He grinned.

"I was the best," he sighed. "I'd say I was pretty damn cute in the outfits."

"Why'd you stop?" He asked the other.

"When my parents passed my sister and I moved in with our grandparents, and well my grandfather didn't seem to think figure skating was a pursuit worthy of a little boy," he snorted.

"That sucks, it sounds like you liked it a lot. I have to see pictures, by the way." John said seriously.

"Maybe later, all the pictures are in a box back at my dorm," he said stretching. John put a twenty on the table and got up with the other following.

"So don't laugh," John started. Aaron raised a brow getting in the car with him. "I don't know how to ice skate."

"John you don't know how to ice skate?"

"Yep you heard me right," John said driving as straight as possible. He smiled wearily. "I honestly use the walker."

Aaron imagined John hunched over using the walker and had to hold back a laugh. "Oh my god, it's my job to teach you then."

John flushed in embarrassment "Please do. I'm not a fast learner either, so please be patient with me."

"Good thing I'm known for being patient," he replied. He parked the car, Aaron looked over at him, "I'll pay for the skate rental," he stated.

"No I got this," John huffed going to fish out his wallet.

"John it's fine, anyways you paid for the food," he said waving him off and pulling out his own. 

"Alright if you say so," John muttered putting away his wallet.

"I knew you'd see it my way," he said with satisfaction. He walked up to the desk and asked the clerk for two sets of skates. Aaron came back dangling in them over his head "Got 'em."

John grabbed the shoes from Aaron and said his thanks before pulling them on. Noticing he was having trouble lacing them Aaron bent down and tied them. "Thank you," he said.

"No problem, are you ready to learn the most beautiful sport?" He asked lacing his own skates up.

"I'm ready Mr. Burr," he said putting on a determined face.

"Mr. Burr?" Aaron laughed standing up. "I could get used to that, come on."

They made their way to the ice, "okay so John hold onto me and I'll help you out to the ice," He instructed. John held onto his arm and Aaron pulled him out to the ice. "Thankfully it's not that crowded today so we have room to work."

"Okay so what now?" John asked looking at the shorter man.

"First I teach you how to break, so when you want to stop shift your weight to your foot and drag the point of the other skate on the ground behind you like you would with roller skates." He demonstrated it to John who copied what he did. "Good! See you've picked that up fast. Next we'll work on moving. Make sure you look forward and not at your feet. Place your weight on one foot and place the other slightly behind it and at an angle. Then, push gently with the back foot moving forward onto the front. When you're a bit more comfortable you can take longer strides."

"Can I see you do it?"

"Of course," he said making sure John was stable enough so that he could show him how to. Aaron smiled, he hadn't realized how much he missed the ice until now. "Do you want me to hold your hand while you do it or can you handle yourself?"

"Hold my hand please? Sorry, I'm just nervous about falling," he said with a nervous laugh.

"Don't worry," he said taking John's hand in his. _Warm_. Aaron blushed as he gently led him. "That's good, just like that," he told him encouragingly. Reluctantly he let go on John's hand watching him skate.

John whooped looking back at Aaron and smiled brightly. He felt warmth spread through his body watching the other. He smiled back giving him a thumbs up and started to skate next to him.

Aaron couldn't help himself from doing a Lutz. The feeling of being in the air and coming back down for the landing was exhilarating. He kept doing moves, the world around him melted away and he was in bliss.

\---

John watched him move gracefully around the rink his eyes glued to the other. _So beautiful_ , he thought. Aaron lowered himself into a fast sit spin and slowly rose finishing his routine. He looked at John and large smile adorned his face.

He couldn't help but smile back. Carefree, chest heaving, Aaron never looked more beautiful than he did now.

Later when John was back at his dorm after he dropped Aaron off he thought back to that moment. He hugged his pillow close to him trying to get rid of the thoughts of the other in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update! I was suffering an extreme writers block + I'm going back to school in a couple of weeks so I've been rushing to finish my summer assignments. I hope it was worth the wait.
> 
> There will be more Hambuur in the next chapter since the last couple have been a bit more lauburr centered. 
> 
> Shout out to Jas for helping me through my writers block and this chapter! 
> 
> Kudos are appreciated and comments are loved.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HamBurr intermission + Life Update

Alex plopped down onto his bed, Aaron falling into place next to him. They exchanged a look and smiled tiredly at each other.

"Finally."

"At last," Alex said sliding his legs across the other's lap. "God it feels like we haven't been able to catch a moment alone together." Aaron nodded in agreement, he was more than happy to lay with Alex after the large meal they had back the diner. Not to mention this had been an overly busy week for the both of them.

"I second that. I'm so full," he groaned to the Nevisian while rubbing his stomach. "I'm going to get fat if we keep eating like that."

"You say that like it’s a bad thing," he chuckled pressing a kiss onto Aaron's knuckles. "Mm you never told me how your day with John went."

"It went well, we got our pizza and went ice skating," he hummed. Alex grinned watching him, "what?"

"I heard that your pretty skillful on the ice," he hinted waiting for a story.

"Okay, so _maybe_ I brought out some of my old figure skating moves," Aaron chuckled. "Nothing too fancy, just a mushroom spin and some leaps."

"Uh huh that's what they all say," Alex scoffed and pouted. Aaron couldn't help but stifle a laugh and lightly tug at the end of his hair.

"You never told me about your day with the Schuyler's, I mean Angie's home now," he pointed out. Alex seemed to perk up.

"Well it was quite a day, I mean I definitely wasn't expecting Angelica to be there at all! Eliza called me out of the blue and told me I needed to get my, and I quote, skinny ass over to their apartment immediately. Of course I'm thinking 'holy shit something’s gone down'. So I raced over there, I get in and I see Angelica sitting there looking all angelic. The rest of the day we just hung around catching up, after all she was in London for like a year." Alex rambled more about what they talked about, who they talked about and so on. Aaron has surprisingly grown accustomed to the other's long talks and started even enjoying them.

"Hey can I ask you something?" Aaron said to Alex after he finished up.

"Yeah of course, anything," he replied without missing a beat.

"Is it lame that I could honestly just lay here with you all day?" Alex laughed and sat up to kiss him.

"If it was then that'd make me lame also," he added, "and I am certainly the least far from lame." Aaron let the other pull him down onto his chest to cuddle.

"Mm it's your turn to pick the movie tonight, by the way," he hummed against Alex's chest and turned his head to watch his face. "Let me guess sci fi again?"

Alex threw his head back in laughter, "you know me so well. I read online that they finally added Lavalantula to on demand."

"You really love spider movies, don't you?" He mused watching him navigate on the screen.

"I think they're neat," he chortled finding the movie. "Ah ha! Found it!" Aaron smiled and relaxed as the opening credits rolled in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everyone! Sorry for such a short update or "intermission" as I'm calling it. School has started for me so the chapter updates are going to be a bit more spaced out, just know that I **will** finish this fic even if it kills me. Thank you for understanding!
> 
> Also shout out to @Tomato for letting me know that the spin Aaron did last chapter was a mushroom spin!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron realizes some things and goes to Theo for help.

Aaron bit his lip and clicked the safari icon on his phone. If he couldn't figure his 'problem' out maybe Google could. He stared at the small screen; did he really want to know? He could go on living in ignorant bliss, pushing back his feeling as he did before.

_No not this time._

He tapped into the search bar: crush on two people at once. _God what am I? A high school girl?_ He felt his cheeks grow warm with embarrassment, but continued on looking over the search results.

After reading several non helpful articles he stumbled upon one promising one. As Aaron read through the thread he had found a particular word stuck out to him. _Polyamory._

Aaron wasn't stupid by all means he knew what polyamory was. After all who didn't know about it, there was that show on TLC. "It couldn't hurt to do some research," he told himself as he typed it into the search bar.

"Morethantwo.com," Aaron hummed to himself clicking on it. The more he read the more things made sense. A pleasant feeling washed over him. He wasn't weird; there were other people like him. The feelings he had felt for William were valid. The feelings he has for John were valid. Everything made sense to him.

Of course that pleasant feeling didn't last. At once a feeling of guilt hit him. In a way it felt like he was cheating on Alex. Unfaithful.

 _I should have just gone with ignorant bliss_ , he groaned rubbing his temple. How would he tell Alex? Should he even tell him? Aaron's thoughts were interrupted by a tall figure looking over him.

"What's with you face? You look constipated," James asked sitting down onto the free space at the end of Aaron's feet.

"Thomas isn't here," Aaron said shortly, James raised a brow at his tone.

"Well I can see that and I can see your distressed," James said again softly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I'm fine, just working through something," Aaron replied. Nothing against James but the topic of his feelings and relationship is a topic he'd rather discuss with Theo. _God forbid the other let it slip to Thomas_ , he'd never hear the end of it.

"Alright," James said slowly and got up. "I'll just crash in Thomas' room until he gets back. I'll see you later."

After James left the room Aaron sat up and collected his things. He was sure Theo wouldn't care he if he dropped by, it wasn't like he hasn't before (she's done it herself plenty). He counted some change for the bus fare and was out the door. It was a short, bumpy trip over to her dorm.

He greeted her RA and made his way up. From the other side of the door he could hear a familiar voice. "Angelica," said under his breath as he knocked.

"Aaron?" Theo said surprised as she answered the door. "What a pleasant surprise!" She pulled him into the dorm.

"Hey Theo, hey Ang," he waved sitting opposite to the curly haired girl. _Great_ , he thought. _I can't talk to Theo with Angelica here, she might tell Alex._

"What's up Aaron, you have that look," Theo said sitting down next to Angelica.

"What look?"

"Y’know that one that’s a cross between a kicked puppy and 'I fucked up' look," Angelica piped up. "C’mon tell ol' Angie and Theo your problem."

"I- uh Angelica I don't know if I should talk to you about this," he tried. "Nothing against you or anything."

"Why? Does this have to do with Alex? Aaron you should know by now I don't run my mouth. If you two are having a problem I'd love to help," she said reassuring him. Aaron bit his lip nervously and gave in.

"It's not like that, it's about me. I'm a shitty boyfriend," he said burying his face in his hands.

"What did the human disaster Aaron Burr do this time?" Theo asked leaning forward. Angelica made a noise of interest.

"I-I think I'm polyamorous," he choked out. Aaron looked down at his shoes avoiding their eyes.

Silence.

After a moment Angelica spoke up. "Have you've told Alex?"

"No, not yet, I don't know how. After all I just found out I was today," he explained. "I mean I've always ended up liking multiple people at once- please stop looking at me like that Theo -I just wasn't aware there was a term for it. I looked it up and tada, there it was."

"What made you look it up? Are you like crushing on someone else?" Theo asked.

"Yes, unfortunately," Aaron said biting his lip. "I still love Alex, I value our relationship."

"Well who is it? The other person you like? We can't exactly help if we don't know who it is," Angelica explained tapping her knee with her well manicured nail.

"See that's the thing... it's kind of bad."

"You're making me nervous," Theo said wringing her hands together. Aaron shifted uncomfortable.

"It's John. John Laurens," he said ashamed. Aaron wanted to curl up into a ball under his blanket and stay there for eternity. Forget about Alex, forget about John; boy did it sound good.

"Oh god Aaron seriously?" Angelica blurted out unable to hold back.

"I didn't mean for it to happen!" He said cringing. "We just started hanging out and- ugh." Theo cleared her throat to take control of the situation.

"Okay, okay one problem at a time," Theo said clasping her hands together. "We'll deal with the John problem in a moment. So your Polyamorous?"

"I thought we established that," Angelica deadpanned.

"I didn't ask you now did I?" Theo shot back at her and turned to Aaron.

"Yes, I am. I'm hundred percent certain of it," he said without faulting. "It all just makes sense, looking back it all falls in place now."

"Okay, there's nothing wrong with that. You're feelings are valid," Theo said taking his hand. It brought a small comfort to him. "You do have to tell Alex about this though, soon, but when you’re ready."

"So now that, that's sorted out what about John?" Angelica asked. "I mean he's Alex's best friend. Maybe you should wait til after you come out with the whole polyamorous thing to tell him that you like him."

"Well duh, I wasn't going to just pop both of those on him at once," Aaron huffed. "I figured I should see how the polyamory thing goes and then make a plan."

"I doubt Alex would break up with you over this," Angelica said. "If anything he's going to research it thoroughly and then get back to you and start asking you a bunch of crap." Aaron nodded thinking over Angelica's words. _Alex would need some time to think about it but he wouldn't break up with over it, would he?_ Aaron groaned letting his head fall into his hands.

"God why is my life so complicated."

"Because, Aaron Burr, as I said before you're a human disaster," Theo reminded him. "You're over thinking again. Tell him you need to talk, invite him over. It's simple."

"God I should do this soon then, tell him I mean," he took out his phone. "Like ripping a band aid off."

"Yes, yes just like that," Angelica encouraged leaning over to watch Aaron's phone screen.

Nervously, he opened up Alex and his chat. He typed up and short message and cleared his throat, "okay how does this sound: Hey Alex, we need to talk when is a good time for you?"

"God Aaron can you sound anymore vague? You sound like you're going to break up with him," Theo said scrunching her nose.

"Yeah give a little more y’know less break up-y approach," Angelica tried.

"Alright," he said going to hit the backspace button... and missed. Aaron's heart stopped and he let out a shout.

"What?!" Angelica said jerking in response. Theo jumped back in surprise, Aaron hardly raised his voice.

"I accidentally hit send! Oh god I am a human disaster!” He cried out throwing his phone away from him into the couch.

"Everyone calm down!" Theo yelled. "Okay Aaron we can fix this just text him that it's nothing bad. Like reassure him."

Aaron picked his phone back up and exhaled. He texted quickly 'it's nothing bad there's just something I need to talk to you about'. Theo and Angelica both sighed with relief.

"Well I didn't think that I was going to spend my afternoon freaking out over my friends relationship," Angelica stated pressing her back into the couch and letting her head fall back. Not long after did Alex answer back.

"He answered back! We're going to meet tomorrow at the coffee shop over on third," Aaron told them and sat up. "Thank you guys for helping me with this part."

"No problemo," Theo said waving her hand. "Good luck with telling Alex, lover boy.”

"I suppose I should get out of your hair now." Theo and Angelica both made a noise of agreement. "I'll see you guys later." He grabbed his things and headed towards the door.

"Tell us how things go!"

\---

Aaron checked his watch for the fifth time that day. His date with Alex was coming close. The man dug out a cigarette (his third that day) and his lighter. Aaron examined the lighter; it was a clash of different bright colors. It reminded him of abstract art, of Alex. He lit the cigarette and took a long drag. He closed his eyes and released a long trail of smoke. Aaron watched in distaste as the smoke dissipated.

After a couple more drags he put it out and checked his watch for the sixth time. Aaron stepped out of his car and walked up to the friendly looking coffee shop. He ordered himself a small black and went to find a seat.

Aaron sucked in a breath when he saw the familiar ponytail pop in through the door and bit his lip. A familiar feeling of anxiety washed over him.

"Hey," Alex said sitting across from him.

"Hey," he replied wringing his hands together nervously.

_Okay so he's doing this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update! I was working on this: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8173990 . Sorry if this chapter was a bit weak, I'm getting back into the groove of writing it.
> 
> Kudos are appreciated and comments are loved.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confessions and negotiations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning this chapter is bit dialogue heavy

_Okay so he's doing this._

Aaron's stomach churned uneasily. Was it too late to go back? Laugh it off and tell Alex it was nothing and that he just missed him? Aaron decided that yes it was too late and yes he needed to do this.

"I can order some drinks and then we can talk. Don't worry it's on me," Alex offered putting his shoulder bag down onto the chair.

"You can get one, I'm not thirsty," he said with a small gesture. Alex shrugged and went to the counter to go order. He tapped a small beat onto the table watching Alex. His heart clenched, afraid that he would leave him.

Alex came back and set his drink down taking the seat across from Aaron. "So you want to talk?" He asked nervously. "If it's something I did, I can fix it you know-"

"Alex, I'm not breaking up with you. Far from it, this-our relationship, is the best thing that's happened to me in a while," Aaron said earnestly. Alex let out a sigh of relief and visibly relaxed. "I love you but there's something that I need to talk to you about."

"Yes?" Alex said leaning forward, eyes trained on Aaron intently. Truth be told it only made him more nervous. He sucked in a breath and counted til three, effectively calming himself.

"I love you, you know that, but we can't keep secrets between us. I have one and I want to tell you because I trust you more than any other person in the world. I'm polyamorous. I would never cheat nor enter another relationship without your consent. I love you so much, but this something I would like to explore," he explained calmly while gauging Alex's reaction. The other was quiet for once. He leaned back into his chair and stared at his coffee. "Alex?" He asked after a moment in a small voice.

"Sorry, I'm uh just digesting this for a second," he said glancing up. "How long have you've known that you're polyamorous?”

"For a day, but I've been like this for my whole life," Aaron replied honestly. "I wouldn't tell you unless I was sure of it myself. It's okay if you want to process or research or even leave me for that matter, I'd understand," Aaron watched Alex bite his lip as if he was trying to decide _if_ he wanted to leave him.

Finally Alex let out a small sigh. "Aaron I need time to process this, as of right now I don't want to break up with you. I'm thrilled you can trust me enough to tell me. Can I ask you something though?"

"Of course you can."

"If I were to ask you to not date anyone would you?" He sounded scared and Aaron's heart dropped.

"I would," he answered.

"But you wouldn't be a hundred percent happy would you? Be honest please, I promise I won't be mad," Alex implored and bit his lip waiting for his answer.

"Truthfully I would." Alex sipped his coffee and looked down. Aaron couldn't help but feel like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders at the confession.

"Tell me about polyamory, what does it mean to you?" Alex asked suddenly.

Aaron was taken back, after a moment he cleared his throat. "To me being polyamorous means to be able to form emotional bonds with more than one person. If you are fine with me ever dating someone else we can make negotiations when it comes to the other person."

"So like rules?" Alex inquired sitting up a bit.

"Yes like rules. Like no dating someone you aren’t comfortable me being with. So say I was going out with someone you didn't want me dating and you told me. I would stop instantly because that would be a rule," he explained.

Alex nodded, "we can have a set of rules right?"

"Of course, we can decide on them together. Also just because I am involved with someone you don't have to. A misconception to polyamorous relationships is that everyone is involved with each other." Alex made a thoughtful noise.

"I would like to make a set of rules and maybe go from there?" Alex suggested. "I'd still like to do my own research and stuff you know but I'd like to do this first."

"That's completely fine," Aaron said taking Alex's hand in his and giving it a squeeze. Alex smiled at him and he couldn't help smile back. "Should we go back to my dorm? I can order Chinese."

"Sounds perfect, by the way I'm riding with you because the bus frickin sucks," he laughed entwining their fingers.

"You drive a pretty hard bargain but I think I can do that," Aaron said stealing a kiss. Alex tugged him up.

"Let's go, lover boy."

\---

Aaron laughed as Alex attempted to catch a piece of orange chicken in his mouth that he had flung in the air. It landed on his chin smearing the orange coating along his face.

After hours of work they finally came up with a list of rules to start out with:

1\. No dating unless without telling (Aaron had argued that this should go without saying but Alex had insisted)

2\. No dating someone that's not approved of

3\. Treat others with respect

4\. !!!Communication!!!

5\. Time management is a must

6\. Safe sex or no sex

7\. Full disclosure with potential partner, that means telling them about me, Alexander Hamilton, and would like them to meet me. If that to them is no dice then no

That's what they had come up with before ordering Chinese to reward themselves for their hard work. Aaron couldn't help but admire Alex. How could he have gotten so lucky?

"Hey Aaron, real talk for a moment," Alex said between bites of his egg roll. "So do you like anyone at the moment? I mean I feel as though you do, call it a gut feeling."

Aaron chocked on his water sending it all over himself. "A-Alex!" He said surprised as the other snickered and handed him napkins.

"I knew it," he said almost triumphantly. "I'm pretty sure I know who it is too." Alex crawled over to Aaron and sat on his lap. Aaron blushed and looked up at him.

"It's John isn't it?" Alex asked looking down on Aaron. "I'm not hurt or anything if you're wondering."

Aaron felt his heart stop instantly. After all it was Alex's _best friend_ , he felt like shit. "I-I'm sorry," he said pressing his face into Alex's chest.

"Hey, hey," Alex said softly cupping Aaron's face. "I've known for a while in a way. I'm actually sorta glad it's John and not some random guy. I'm not saying I'm ready for another person to date you right now but when that time comes I'm glad it's him."

Aaron sighed softly and wrapped his arms around Alex. _One step at a time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus, its been a while hasn't it! I'm sorry it took me so long to write this chapter but its been a combination of a couple things: laziness, other interests, school.... you get it, anyways I'm happy to present chapter 11 to everyone.
> 
> other news: I started a writing blog! so far its just writing references but I'd love to use it to keep everyone update, answer question, discuss topics, or even take prompts. you can find it at tumblr @chutedeicarus
> 
> Kudos are appreciated and comments are loved.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for such a overplayed name for a title, I honestly couldn't think of a better one.
> 
> Come talk to me over on tumblr @tendericarus if you have any questions. I'm always happy to talk.


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